LizzBuenaventura.com

DESIGN FESTA Volume 26
November 17-18, 2007
Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba
JAPAN

It's been almost 48 hours since the Design Festa finished-- enough time for the experience to have set in, but not so much time that I've managed to forget the details.

I woke up on the 17th at the crack of dawn to haul my 9 paintings (plus materials and prints) across the city (on foot, on a bus, and finally by train-- oh how I miss my car), and arrived at the Tokyo Big Sight at 8:45 in the morning. It took me about two hours to set-up, which was just about enough time since the event started at 11:00 am and ended at 7:00 pm.

There were four floors crammed with art-- paintings, photographs, clothes, jewelry, and live art. There was a man dressed as a white clown with his face painted white occupying one booth, a single finger pressing a single piano key on his portable keyboard for the entirety of the event. I wish I had taken a picture, but alas... I didn't have my camera with me.

In any case, there was a crowd of about 60,000 people during the event-- roughly 2,000 presenters and 58,000 viewers. My booth, since I signed up early, was situated on the first floor in hall C.



I had my Shakespeare is Universal pieces taking up the majority of the space, while I had prints, postcards, and miscellaneous stuff featuring my art for sale on the sides. Since I had a corner booth, I had an extra outer wall which faced the entrance to C-Hall. This was where I put my favorite piece, Ophelia in Manila, as well as my formal Artist's Statement.



I fortunately had a friend helping out with my booth, so I was able to walk around a few times during the two days. I met a lot of people whilst going around, and also made a lot of contacts in my booth. While there was certainly enough of a foreign crowd, the majority of the visitors were still Japanese, and I managed to get quite a bit of a language workout during the day. :)

The event was pretty phenomenal in terms of meeting people and making contacts, and I'm definitely happy that I was able to experience it. The next time it rolls around, though, I think I'd like to try being an observer instead! Lol. My legs were positively aching after the event, and as is typical of Japanese life, I had to go to work the day after. :D

http://www.designfesta.com

http://www.liezlbuenaventura.com: Now updated with my Design Festa pieces! :) (There was one last piece that I didn't have the time to upload to LJ before, so go to my site to check out "Proteus and Valentine in Korea."

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( More pictures behind the cut. )

I suppose I could talk about a bunch of things. About how I felt the need to create a journal that didn't have as many friends on it as my old LJ did, and how I need a place where I can talk about whatever I want to without fear of offending anybody.

But that's really not the point, is it?

It's a fresh start for www.lizzbuenaventura.com

I'm still in Tokyo.

My life still has a thousand different roads on the horizon.

Welcome to my life.

I find it ironic that when I am content-- truly, utterly, completely content-- I can't write a single word.

In my entire life, there is only one time I've actually ever felt content (years ago, when I was still with my very first boyfriend), and I couldn't write a god damned thing. At least, nothing that wasn't complete drivel. Pointless, disgustingly saccharine bits of fluff that revolved around love in its every nausea-inducing facet.

My life in Tokyo can only be summed up as a struggle to *achieve* contentment, though at no point in time did I ever actually feel it. Whether it was the language barrier, having to study something that I have absolutely no interest in (a visual communicator studying the pointlessly complicated ins-and-outs of the Japanese language), or trying to find a job, not once did I feel the complete and utter calm of total contentment.

And I've written butt-loads.

(I've also painted butt-loads, but that's not the point. I paint regardless of whether I'm happy, sad, or discombobulated. No, it's the writing I'm talking about, here.)

Anyway, back to my point. The writing.

I've written poems, short stories, long stories-- heck, I've even started a young adult novel. I am disgusted by the fact that ideas only come to me when I am so thoroughly disgruntled with myself (and/or my surroundings), and yet I can't help but be spectacularly pleased at the insane amount of output.

This realization can only beg the question: Do I *like* being miserable?

Or more importantly: Is my capacity to create hinged on my discontent?

Fuck.

I hope not.